Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy: Participation, Politics, and Culture Under Chávez

By Julia Buxton, Margarita Lopez Maya, Daniel Hellinger

Book Overview

Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy brings together a variety of perspectives on participation and democracy in Venezuela. An interdisciplinary group of contributors focuses on the everyday lives of Venezuelans, examining the forms of participation that have emerged in communal councils, cultural activities, blogs, community media, and several other forums. The essays validate many of the critiques of democracy under Ch vez, as well as much of the praise. They show that while government corporatism and clientelism are constant threats, the forms of political and cultural participation discussed are creating new discourses, networks, and organizational spaces-for better and for worse. With open yet critical minds, the contributors seek to analyze Venezuela's Bolivarian democratic experience through empirical research. In doing so, they reveal a nuanced process, a richer and more complex one than is conveyed in international journalism and scholarship exclusively focused on the words and actions of Hugo Ch vez.

Contributors
Carolina Acosta-Alzuru
Julia Buxton
Luis Duno Gottberg
Sujatha Fernandes
Mar a Pilar Garc a-Guadilla
Kirk A. Hawkins
Daniel Hellinger
Michael E. Johnson
Luis E. Lander
Margarita L pez-Maya
Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols
Coraly Pagan
Guillermo Rosas
Naomi Schiller
David Smilde
Alejandro Velasco

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822350416
• ISBN13: 9780822350415
• Release Date: August 2011
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"